Einstein Bros. Bagels — Restaurant in San Diego

Long time customer. My last visit to this location 2/9/2024. I left before ordering. I think Einstein Brothers is a relatively consistent franchise, however this location is a disaster. I buy loose bagels/cream cheese for the office a few times a month, and I have regrettably stopped at this location many more times than I should have out of convenience. I have only myself to blame. Here are a few reasons from my personal experience and interests to avoid this location: (1) Poor service. All reviews complaining about extremely SLOW service are 100% accurate. I do not fault the constantly rotating cast of somber employees. Turnover at this location is a big issue. Management must be miserable. (2) Inconsistent and sometimes outright bad (hard) bagels. I think this is also attributable to turnover. The bagels are routinely overcooked compared to other locations. Also, this location 100% skimps on ingredients on the green chile bagels and jalapeno cheddar bagels. The green chile bagel ALWAYS has about a quarter-sized dollop of the chile/cheese mixture on the bagel - about one-third of the amount of the good stuff you will enjoy at literally any other location. The jalapeno cheddar bagel ALWAYS has so little cheese on it that the peppers fall off on the bag. (3) NO fountain soft drinks. The fountain soft drink dispenser has been out of order for at least two years. The out of order sign is showing signs of degradation. Why not just remove the machine if you are not going to get it fixed? I can only imagine all the moldy drink syrup in that box. I am sure there are many more things to loathe about this Einstein Brothers location, but I humbly offer those that I have been personally affected by. I am sure that this location enjoys swift business due to its location near the College exit, schools, and SDSU but I for...

I have been going to Einsteins for years, at minimum a few times a month. Their bagels are tasty enough for me, though I will say I’m not very picky about that stuff, and the staff is usually nice. My issue is that they claim to bake fresh bagels throughout the day, yet unless I manage to get there before 8 or 9 AM most of their flavors are sold out. This isn’t an occasional thing, it happens pretty much daily. Where are all the bagels you’re supposedly baking all day long? And why are the ones you do have cold and soggy once it gets to be later in the morning? Unless someone has the luxury of having the time and ability to go get breakfast within the first couple hours of opening, it’s not a good experience at all. Clearly they aren’t as on top of baking as they claim to be, which is wrong. You need to cater to your customers for more than the first hour. If you are regularly selling out and having to turn customers away because you don’t have what they want, you need to be making more. Or, follow your own rules and actually put out new, fresh bagels throughout the day. That would solve most of the issues. But Those aren’t the only things that aren’t consistent. I always order butter, and some days it’s drenched in it but others I question if they even added any. My friend used to get the brisket sandwich and same thing happened for the amount of meat, some days it was more while others there was hardly any. He stopped coming here after multiple instances where the sandwich gave him food poisoning. So between that, the lack of quality or consistency, and the zero organization that becomes apparent as soon as you go inside the store, I think I’m finally...

First of all the staff are really friendly and this review is not aimed at them directly. I have been going to Einstein locations for years and never had an issue. I love the potato salad and bagel dogs. I walked into this location and ordered a Turkey Bacon Avocado toasted on whole wheat bagel with extra tomato spread and a potato salad. The reply was "we no longer do potato salad" okay, chips then. I proceeded to sit down and the dining room is closed. COVID RESTRICTIONS ENDED MONTHS AGO. Literally all other restaurants dining rooms are open. I received the food with no extra spread and they didn't toast the bagel. Figures... Einstein discontinued bagel dogs a few months ago and now the potato salad. Now with the dining room closed why do I even bother? I am out in the field working and just need somewhere to stop for lunch. The people working at this location are friendly and try to make the best of it. But corporate BS or the franchise owner needs to fix the issues if they don't want to lose...